By Ken Woody
Oregon staggered to a 21-0 halftime lead over visiting Michigan State and slumbered to a 31-10 win over a game, but outmatched Spartan squad that never threw in the towel. A loud crowd of 59,302 roared their approval for coach Dan Lanning’s first Big Ten victory in Autzen Stadium. That the Ducks seemed out of sorts in the second half might be attributed to thinking ahead to Saturday’s most anticipated game in Autzen football history against Ohio State, ranked number two in the country.
Jonathan Smith, the new head man at Michigan State, has an unusual view about taking over a moribund Big Ten team that has been through coaching turmoil the past several years. With few returning starters from a team in 2023 that won four games, Smith is looking to build the Spartans in the same way he built Oregon State into a Pac-12 contender after struggling to a 2-10 record his first year.
The Ducks took command early, but sputtered offensively, giving up two red zone interceptions and punting in their first three possessions. Gabriel and the play caller seem so intent on hooking up receiver Tez Johnson and throwing touchdown passes, that with one exception, there was no observed effort to establish the offensive line’s tempo and momentum in the running game. The play calling became hit or miss and the Ducks were able to score only one touchdown in the second half against the outmanned Spartans.
Several times on third-and-one, the Ducks chose to pass rather than run the ball. It seemed Oregon lacked the confidence, and the right formation, to run over the Spartans. The offensive line’s consistency seemed unsettled—great teams and great offensive lines live to dominate the line of scrimmage and run it down their opponent’s throats. That’s why teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama and Georgia are always in the playoffs, a place Lanning and the Ducks aspire to be.
Late in the second quarter, Oregon gave up one first down after making the score 14-0 and forced a punt. The Ducks took the ball on the 27-yard line and proceeded to march 73 yards in twelve plays, taking 1:48 on the clock. It was the first time Gabriel was Heisman-sharp and the offense looked like it really knew what to do and when to do it.
Gabriel completed 6-of-9 attempts for 56 yards and Jordan James ran the ball twice for 18 yards. None of the passes were rollouts, which Gabriel did not handle well in the first half—his two interceptions were both on plays where he was running around trying to find an open receiver against overloaded secondary coverage and threw the ball late. This final drive, coach had him drop straight back and make decisive decisions—big difference in the outcome and a 21-0 halftime lead.
Michigan State had a hard time protecting their quarterback, Aidan Chiles and a worse time trying to sustain their rushing offense because the Ducks were kicking Spartan tush defensively: allowing only 2-of-11 third-down conversions and racking up five sacks amongst consistently strong pressure on the pass rush. The secondary couldn’t come up with an interception and gave up 191 yards passing but this could be helped if the pass rushers could tip or block some passes at the line of scrimmage.
Jordan Burch continued his strong defensive play, credited with 2.5 sacks while Spartan transfer Derrick Harmon had a tackle and a sack against his former team. The Ducks ran to the ball and tackled well throughout the game, but a couple of the young edge defenders lost contain on several wide plays and quarterback scrambles by rushing too far past, and losing leverage on the quarterback. Burch has shown much improvement in the past two games and his maturity and hustle is setting a good example for the rest of the young front four.
Michigan State averaged more per attempt and per completion than the Ducks, and the one turnover they suffered, a fumble as Chiles tried to sneak the ball into the end zone from the two-yard line, would have given the Spartans an early lead. The turnover mindset is what coordinator Tosh Lupoi is trying to establish with the entire defense.
After the recovery, the Ducks marched 79 yards to the MSU one-yard line and Gabriel threw his first interception on third-and-one. That Lanning did not run the ball and throw instead did not look good in terms of aggressiveness and faith in his offensive line and running backs. It happened a couple other situations during the game. As much as Oregon looked confident throughout the game, they, and Gabriel, didn’t look confident in the red zone.
In the first half, Gabriel Dillon made enough mistakes to ruin his Heisman hopes: having two interceptions on third down. The play calling wasn’t setting the Ducks up for success, either. It was clear the Michigan State defense was having a hard time standing up to the running game, but the play caller couldn’t pass up an opportunity of getting Dillon a touchdown pass attempt. Gabriel was so intent on throwing for a score he let loose on two passes that were not open when he threw and were intercepted.
BITS AND PIECES–Dillon has work to do. His touch on long pass attempts has been poor. He overthrew and underthrew long balls and miss-read the defense on occasion. One completion was an underthrown ball to Traeshon Holden, who slipped and fell coming back to the ball and caught it flat on his back for a 37-yard gain. It appeared Gabriel was forcing throws, trying to make things happen, and too many were aimed at Tez Johnson. As opponents study Gabriel and his tendencies on film it might be helpful if offensive coordinator Will Stein mixed it up a bit: utilize more of his talented targets to keep pressure on the entire defense.
Tight end Terrance Ferguson dropped a touchdown pass in the red zone, but made up for it with a 62-yard completion on a screen pass where he showed off his speed and open field running behind a scrambling group of teammates. After a spotless start, Duck receivers have muffed passes that should have been caught in the past two games, evidence of a decline in concentration. There are distractions for football players—perhaps due to the first week of classes for student-athletes who previously had two months of only football to dedicate their time to, or maybe, the Buckeyes?
Seldom-called kicker Andrew Boyle finally got a chance to kick a long field goal and thrilled the crowd with a 50-yard kick that pushed the lead to 24-0 in the third quarter. It was nice to see Lanning give Boyle the opportunity for the long bomb, something missing from the arsenal in the past. You never know when you might need that in a close game.
Tez Johnson is working at returning punts but is inconsistent when calling fair catches, often calling them when he still has room to head straight up the field and then break laterally, rather than heading sideways for a wide-side return. The Ducks set up several returns to the wide side of the field, but would have been better suited to do a middle return. Though there may be covering defenders coming fast, often they overrun the returner who makes the quick move right at them. Two special teams’ returns against Boise were the difference between victory and defeat.
A nice sidelight for the game was the latest “Stomp Out Cancer,” the athletic department’s effort to bring awareness of the importance of support of cancer research focusing on Lanning’s wife Sauphia, herself a survivor of bone cancer. The Ducks’ game bright yellow uniforms were dedicated to “Heroes,” and contained design touches suggested by Lanning, his wife, and each of their three sons.“It was really cool that Nike reached out about maybe being able to create something,” Lanning said. “I know it was really important to my wife that it was something that honored all forms of cancer and the people that are surrounded by it. I think every single one of us have all been affected by that. So, they took a really cool idea and turned into something really neat. And I think it’ll bring great awareness and some much-needed attention to a terrible disease.”
Ken Woody coached college football for 18 years as an assistant at Oregon, Washington, Utah State and Washington State and as a head coach at Whitman College and Washington University-St. Louis. He conducts a coaching clinic, free to all, at the 6th Street Grill every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. during the season. Plays from Oregon games are analyzed, there are scouting reports for opponents, and highlights from referees; all to learn and enjoy football and understand why the Ducks win or lose.
Questions and comments welcomed.
Contact Ken at: woody8783@comcast.net
